The Season with Peter Schrager: Sean Payton

Peter goes deep with the Belle of the pending Coaching Hiring Ball. Sean and Peter talk leadership, building a championship team, and whether or not Tom Brady is coming with him if he leaves Fox for a coaching opportunity.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:07):
The Season with Peter Schreeger as a production of the
NFL in partnership with My Heart Radio. What's up, everybody,
This is Peter Schreeger. You're listening to the Season with
Peter Schreeger, a week eighteen episode that we're recording two
days later than we were planning on recording, UM on Tuesday.
We're actually here on Thursday morning, And the reason we
didn't record anything on Tuesday was for obvious reasons. It

(00:31):
was still in the immediate aftermath of the Damar Hamlin
situation Monday night during Monday Night football, and I wanted
to start off this podcast by kind of talking about
when it's appropriate and how I'm handling turning the page
in such a way metaphorically you don't ever turn the
page from it, but from going from that conversation topic

(00:55):
and when it's inappropriate to talk football, and then saying, hey,
there is games on Sunday. We do love football and
we do want to talk about the sport. I actually
I leaned on a lot of coaches that I speak
with on a regular basis this past weekend, was texting
them and UM, I don't think he would mind me
saying it. Sean McDermott texted me and said, hey, thanks

(01:16):
for all the work that you guys are doing on
Good Morning Football. You guys are leading from the front,
and I thought your show today was beautiful. That was Tuesday. Wednesday, Uh,
still no real update on tomorrow, Hamlin and we did
a sprinkling of football Talk and now Thursday kind of
did a half and half where we gave you the
latest up to date news and we had reporters on

(01:36):
the ground in both Buffalo and at the hospital, and
also great reporters from the NFL network offering insights on
not only, uh, you know, the Hamlet situation, but also
what the Bills Bengals game situation would be, whether they'd
replay it or whether they're not going to replay it,
and how they would break that down. All that is
is important because I you know, we gotta do a

(01:58):
podcast talking football, and we can do the same things,
uh simultaneously. We could to vote our energy, g's in
our time and our hearts to Damore Hamlin and his
family and this incredible fight that he's in right now.
But we could also talk about the games and acknowledge
and be self aware that saying, hey, the games might

(02:18):
feel like they're secondary, they don't matter, but they also
are um part of the NFL. And it's the final
week of what's been an amazing season, and uh, we
gotta tackle that too. I I thought McDermott and Zach
Taylor were incredible on Monday night, and I wanted to
use this monologue to kind of give a little I

(02:40):
guess the word would be respect and uh shine props
if you will for their grace under fire. Uh. The
story goes that, you know, Zach Taylor was down there
and Sean McDermott said to him, so like, I've got
to go to the hospital. I gotta be with Tamar

(03:01):
and Zach Taylor not thinking about what that would mean
for playoff potential and not thinking that his team was
was rolling, not thinking that okay, yes, so now if
your team refuses to take the field, but my team stays,
we get a forfeit and that would actually help us
in the stay. Like that stuff wasn't even even in
his mind. It wasn't even brought up. And Zach Taylor
was like, of course. And then what Taylor said was

(03:25):
his captain's burrow and the guys were like, can we go?
And speak with the Bills captains, which doesn't happen, and
of course sac Taylor grab McDermott was like that the
captains want to speak to your captain said, yes, talk
and it was decided right then and there that they're
not going to take the field. Um. Zach Taylor on
a fourth and one earlier this season called an end

(03:46):
around to Trent Taylor and I got stuff at the
goal line against the Chiefs, and I remember going on
Twitter in the real time and the amount of vitriol
and the amount of just fire this guy. This is
the guy who had been to the Super Bowl year earlier, um,
and a guy whose players love him and has taken
the Bengals from the like the immediate reaction when we
watched these games is that these coaches that they can't
get a fourth oun call right or if they mismanaged

(04:08):
the clock or fire them, fire them, fire them. I
don't know. My takeaway from this week was there's so
much more to coaching than in game management and you know,
fourth down calls and time out. There's an emotional element
to this, there is a leadership element to this, and
there is truly a human element to this, and I

(04:29):
think that's part about being a coach that maybe doesn't
get talked about enough. And that's why some coaches who
who do have UM, you know, maybe questionable calls or
losing records, get another shot because people in the building
know that this guy's a leader of men and women.
And then this guy is different than just UH an
almanac or a binder that you go to and say,

(04:50):
what do I do on fourth and three? Here's what
it's here's what they tell you. I think about the
different teams and the tragedies that they've had to face,
and how these coaches are turned to UM and they're
asked to lead the Bills this season. I mean, gosh,
has any team in the history of the sport had
to go through more just negative, negative, negative, adverse situations

(05:14):
time after time for time not to go through a
timeline of it. And if they do win the Super Bowl,
trust me, this is gonna be a hell of a
book that McDermott writes. Uh. But the owner Kimpagoulas fell
on some unfortunate health events this summer that leads to
a season where Dawson Knox startight end, his brother unexpectedly

(05:34):
passes away early, and the loved player, his brother passes away.
Talking about multiple weather events, you're talking about a senseless
killing and a supermarket in Buffalo that rock that that
market in a way that obviously trickles down to the
team talking about a fire on New Year's Eve that
did not get a lot of national press, that killed

(05:55):
many people in the city. And you're talking about a
team that was coming off of a year where they
came just short of rich in the a f C
Championship Game and lost in historic fashion. You add this
piece to this. You're talking about resiliency, but you're also
talking about leadership that these guys all turned to Sean
McDermott and say that's our dude. And when it comes

(06:18):
to Zach Taylor, those Bengals players all turned to Zach
Taylor and say that's our dude. They're not worried about
the fourth and one call about Trent to turn Taylor
in Week six or whatever it was. They're not thinking
about Sean McDermott and a decision in the a f
C Championship Game not to squib kick it, or how
they handled the final moments of that game. UH. The
AFC Divisional Round last year, UH coaching is a lot

(06:40):
more than that. Coaching is emotional like you. Coaching is
being a person that everyone in the building can go to.
And coaching is having the amount of vulnerability that you
can have to turn to others and say, hey, I
need a hand. I have been exchanging text with a
lot of these coaches. One of the interesting things New
York Giants had coach Brian Dable. You know, Brian Dable

(07:03):
was a coach on the staff when they drafted to
mar Hamlin last year. And Brian Dable when he got
the job in Buffalo, was sure to work with his
general manager Joe Shane, who we've had on as a
guest here, who was part of the front office that
that drafted UM to mar Hamblin a season ago. And
part of what they want to do is they wanted
to build a culture, and they wanted to build UM
things the way that they had it in Buffalo, where

(07:24):
it's the right kinds of people and and in the
face of what Sean McDermott was leading, and also from
top to bottom on the roster, guys that you want
to be around, and guys that you want to fight for,
and guys who want to fight with and they went
into debt. They went and brought in Davis Webb. They
went and they brought in John Feliciano. They went out
and they got back Matt Brita and Isaiah Hodgens and
uh Nick McLeod who was in the same defensive backfield

(07:46):
as as uh To more Hamlin last year in Buffalo.
He's now a Giant. All up and down that Giant's
building in that locker room are former Bills, And that's
the coach, it's the GM, it's players. And I think
about coaching and Daboll having to come to his team
and saying, that's one of our brothers. You know, he's
not with us in in our in our locker room anymore.

(08:08):
But we all know that guy. And for those of
you guys who don't know that guy, there are players
on this lock in this locker room who do know
that guy and are hurting right now. So many great
examples of leadership and coaching this week, through this horrible tragedy,
UM and coaches looking to their players and saying I'm
here on someone you can come to. And mental health
matters just as much as this week a teen battle.

(08:31):
I love that our league has rallied around this and
that we've seen the best that the league has to offer.
And by the league, I mean the players, two coaches,
and all the people who work UH at the various organizations.
And I hope that everything, UH does take a turn
for the better. As we're recording this, we're waiting for
for great news. UM. But I also know it is

(08:51):
appropriate to talk about football, and we're gonna do that
as a football podcast, and UH, We're gonna look at
the games on Sunday, but we're also going to look
at some of the some of the different storylines that
goes into it. And we're talking about leadership so much.
And I think that's the theme of this week's show. Uh. Ironically,
a quote that I love, UM that comes up. There's

(09:12):
an NFL films series called The Missing Rings and it's
really good, and The Missing Rings chronicles all the great
teams that didn't win Super Bowls, and it's different teams
at a different hour. And they did the nineties Bills
and this must have been from like five years ago.
And Marv Levy looks to the camera and Marv Levy was,

(09:32):
of course the Hall of Fame coach of the Bills,
who lost four Super Bowls. He looks at the camera
and he says, after that first Super Bowl, after the
Norwood miss field goal, he came into the locker room
and the guys were devastated, and he quoted Sir Andrew
Barton and he said, this poem allowed. Now, Marv Levy
has a military background. He's a military historian. He was

(09:54):
able to rattle this off to his guys after a
heartbreaking loss in the Super Bowl. He said, fight on
my men. I am hurt, but I am not slain.
I laid me down and bleed awhile, and then I'll
eyes and I'll fight again. And I get chills saying it.
But I think about what we're asking from these players

(10:14):
this week, and we're asking from all these different coaches,
and we're asking from broadcasters, and we're asking from those
folks who work in the medical community who will be
at the game doing what they always do on Sundays.
Fight on my men, and uh, I've hurt, but I'm
not slain. I'll lay me down and bleed awhile, and
I'll fight again. I think of that. Um, we gotta

(10:37):
get up and we can all have uh, all of
our emotions in our hearts and our prayers with DeMar Hamlin.
But Um, the games will be played, and we've got
to do our best to go there and do the
best job we can, either playing in it, coaching it,
or covering it. Our guest today is going to be
one of the most coveted men to get in an
interview anywhere. He agreed to do it on Tuesday. He's

(11:00):
been gracious enough to do it on Thursday, and he
also knows a thing or two about overcoming not only tragedy,
but in the face of adversity. Our guest is gonna
be Sean Payton, and we're gonna be open and honest
with Sean, and he's going to talk to us about
what he wants to be in the future, whether it
be a TV analyst or a coach, and which place
he might end up with. We have not recorded the

(11:20):
interview yet, but I'm hopeful that you're going to come
away from it saying not only is Shawn pat And
a great coaching candidate, but that Sean Payton is a
great leader of men, and I think that's a good
theme for this week leadership. Um, and hopefully you enjoy
the interview all right, let's bring him in here. Uh.
Super Bowl winning coach, one of the greatest to ever
do it. He's a current colleague of mine at Fox Sports,

(11:41):
and you're gonna hear his name a bunch of the
next few days. Uh. And I've grown to look at
him as one of my closest friends. I love working
with this guy, and I'm sad those days might be
coming to an end soon. Sean Payton, Welcome to the
season with Peter Schreger. Peter, I appreciate um. First off,
I appreciate our friendship. You mentioned it. It's funny. Um,
we get so in tune to our own jobs, and

(12:04):
then all of a sudden, Uh, there's a switch for me.
I meet guys like you, Carissa, Charles and Michael and
and everyone else there. Um in in not only a
new career, but really in a new light relative to
how we interact and get a chance to visit. And
I've really enjoyed it. Uh. It's it's You've helped me immensely.

(12:26):
And but it's the reason we have good jobs. I
think is about the people. You know, I was That's
why my job at the Saints was a good job,
because it was about the people and ownership there, Mickey Loomis,
and the job at Fox is good because of that. Yeah,
I see your face and I and I smile because
we have a great time together. And yet I also

(12:47):
see your face and I think of the word leader.
And I started this whole podcast off doing a monologue
of sorts about leadership. And my big takeaway was, you know,
we critique in a in a football world, especially online
and on TV, like hey, how does how does Zach
Taylor not kick the field goal? Instead of why is
he going for it on fourth and one when the
odds say this? Or how does Sean McDermott not squib

(13:09):
kick that in the a f C divisional round? And
you say, well, fire that coach, get rid of that coach.
That coach sucks, And then you see the emotional intelligence
and the leadership of how both those men immediately sprung
to action like generals on a field of war. Um,
and we're able to lead men through some of the
darkest times. In the last seventy two hours, I look

(13:31):
to you as a lifetime uh you know, leader of
men and as a as a coach. What was your
takeaway and maybe my question to you is when you
identify a leader, is it? Is it something that we
may be at home, don't don't don't get to see
becast of all the stuff that goes into coaching that
that maybe isn't exactly in the field of play for

(13:52):
those three hours. Well, I think we get glimpses of it, um, surely,
But but I feel like they exist in our children's schools,
great leaders. Um. We we just don't maybe equate them
in that light. I think, having two children myself, UM,

(14:12):
if during the course of their lifetime they're blessed with
two or three different individuals, might be a counselor might
be a teacher when they were in grade school, might
be a coach, um, maybe uh, an art professor, UM.
Somebody that loves them as much as we their parents

(14:35):
do and and impacts their lives in such a way
that that's the greatest gift we can get his parents
and so UM. I think what we saw the other
night were two individuals along with the teammates, that cared
for an individual, uh, just as we would their parents.

(14:58):
And and I've known Sean Um for a long time.
You know, he was started with the Eagles U and
was there cutting his teeth under the late Jim Johnson
and Andy Reid and then Zack I haven't worked with,
but I've had a chance to visit with or talk with.
But to watch their leadership the other evening was was

(15:23):
really cool. And I was watching it like you were live. Um.
You know you saw the concern on their faces, just
like you did with the players, and you know that
that on the ground leadership relative to understanding, this is
what's happening to my team right now, this is what

(15:46):
I think is best. And then eventually the league, you know,
having a chance to visit with those coaches and kind
of acquiesced and say, hey, we we trust your opinions. Um.
I thought that was There were a lot of things
that I don't want to use the word word encouraging,

(16:07):
but man, we all went to bed with prayer, but
we also went to bed with like, uh that that
moment we stopped for a second and it was like
recalibrated and and now you see the whole country. Um.
Each morning, I get up in the morning and I
quickly go to the news to see if there's an update,
and I just keep thinking to myself, I would love

(16:31):
to be a fly on the wall when his family
is explaining to him the eight million dollar balance in
his toys for charity that when the last he recall,
you know, he was handling like a part of a neighborhood,
Like you know, he's gonna need yeah, and so he's
gonna need um a lot of assistance. And I'm sure

(16:53):
he'll find that to distribute that much in toys. But um, yeah,
I think it gave us all a chance to quickly
recalibrate to your point and recognize, um, these individuals beyond
their football helmets, these coaches, beyond their decisions with clipboards
and and all of the other things we get so

(17:16):
now you just kind of you get in the habit
and a routine. And this was one of those moments
where I think that there were parts of it that
made you proud to be a part of what we
do and to see the human response to this, and
and we continue to pray for for his recovery. We do. Um,
when you were the coach of the Saints, the city,

(17:38):
the organization, I mean, you're talking coming off a Katrina,
we're talking about you know, I don't want to go
down the throat, but like you know, Will Smith was
one of your greatest players tragically murdered, and like you've
got to talk to the team the next day. Is
that the stuff that you look back on and say, well,
that's what leadership is? Or is it Hey, I'm gonna
call it on side kick on Super Bowl and we're

(17:59):
going to shock the world. I think it's all of
the above. Um. You mentioned that the tragic death of
Will Smith. Um. I also I can recall the day
we found out Steve Gleeson was diagnosed with als and
we were flying to Seattle, we were playing in the
wild card round of the two thousand ten playoffs, and

(18:22):
then talking you know, basically talking to our team about
that in the team meeting the night before. And um,
I think I think we we we know that there's
a lot of times spent in those football buildings, just
like there's a lot of time spent. I mean every
time I turned the TV on you guys a good

(18:43):
morning football. That's there's a lot of hours. And so
you become very close to your peers and your co workers,
and I think that same thing exists, and so they
are in some ways of a family. And I've heard
the term brotherhood and all of those other terms. Um,
and it's it's because of common goals, it's oftentimes because

(19:07):
the amount of time we're all together. But there's a
love and caring for one another, and so um inevitably,
when you're dealing with large numbers of teams, there you know,
on any given week, there's there's somebody that's aching, or
someone that's not feeling good. There's someone who's got personal
problems that could be a coach and assistant coach, a player.

(19:31):
When you take that bigger group of people, Um, that
comes up pretty regularly. And and so how do you
deal with that? And how do you how do you listen?
You know sometimes that's a really good trait that we
we don't pay enough attention to. And uh, and then
how do you react and act on that? And so um,

(19:53):
certainly for me is you know, is I'm watching this
week and watching the game the other night. You know,
I think our biggest fear, and I do recall thinking
of this, Our biggest fear is a teacher, coaches man
having something terribly wrong happened to one of your players
while you're on watch, you know. And it's been a while, uh,

(20:15):
but we we had a string of adversity. And I
say that there was a college death and a professional
player's death in training camp because of the heat and
and UM, so you're always as as a teacher, we're
taught to secure the field, you know, make it a
safe environment. Um, you know, equipment outside the parameters of

(20:37):
the sidelines, all these little things that you don't want
a player to get injured because we we didn't have
the field set up correctly or our drills set up correctly.
And that same thing applies in training camp with the heat.
Um it applies. Um it's seven and there your responsibility

(21:00):
and that's a pretty powerful thing. And UM, I thought
both act and Seawan were unbelievable the other night. I
remember COVID you were the first one to say, you know,
it's screw it. We're putting our whole team in a
hotel like you guys are gonna say at the Ritz
you're gonna be or was it just whatever it was? Well,
it's um there's some things that you look at they

(21:22):
seem like, oh, that's a big change to do that,
and it's yet it's very small if it keeps everyone safe.
Your name was the biggest name last weekend. There were
reports about teams being interested in you. We know Denver
fired fired their coach Nathaniel Hackett a couple of weeks ago,
There's going to be a vacancy likely in Carolinea all
these things. Let's set the stage though, what is your

(21:43):
current contracts status? Because I think a lot of people
are confused, are like, well, then isn't he with the
Saints and how does that work? Can you just on
the record explain to us what your status is? And
then also what would have to happen if if a
team were to want to inquire yourself, cause I don't
I don't know exactly if and I certainly don't think
the listeners know, Like well, can they even talk to him?

(22:04):
Like just go through it for us? Yeah? Um, well
that's a good question because look, it doesn't happen often.
And right now, and I say this, I'm happily employed
at Fox with a good contract and a good job
with people like yourself. Relative to the NFL, my contract
that I have with the Saints essentially runs through twenty

(22:27):
three and twenty four, so two more seasons, so something
more to happen, Peter, and I say this, I think
there's this assumption like all these deals are getting done
right now. And and honestly, like like we said at
the beginning, I get up this morning, I'm having a
Noah's Bagelsiago cheese with coffee. Um, I'm gonna walk the

(22:48):
dogs and uh my wife and mother in law. We'll
probably do something this afternoon. We're still weeks away from
the period where maybe a week away or two weeks
away from the period where other teams, UM would put
it in a request in that would simply, you're not
on the phone with the agent. Sell me here, what's

(23:09):
going on. That's not the that's not the vibe right now.
It's not Manhattan Beach. It's a little cold here. Um,
we're at the south end of that like that that
like winter swall or whatever that is that what's it
called the bomb cyclone? Um that San Francisco together. But
we're getting a lot of rain here and I'm sure
this state needs it. So, because of those two years

(23:29):
existing on a contract with the Saints, if in fact
there was interest by another team, the first step would
be permission to to speak with me, and that would
be the other team, you know, talking to Mickey Loomis.
Ownership of the Saints asking for permission to to visit.
Then if it got to a point where it was

(23:51):
serious and there was interest, I'm sure that compensation then
would would take place, and very similar to a player trade.
So essentially, what I don't know is what that compensation
would be, because that would be Mickey in the Saints,
in the club that had that interest. So that's essentially

(24:13):
in a nutshell. And two seasons, I'm under contract with
New Orleans and I'm also working at Fox, and there
isn't there's there's nothing pressing right now is certainly you
think about some of the jobs that have opened. And
yet I kind of like the job I had with
you guys, And you know that that's real because you
see me on Yeah, he hasn't left the building yet,

(24:36):
you know, and and and so I just like going
over there. There is a little bit of that void,
you know, when you leave the coaching realm, which is
obviously seven days a week, a lot of time and hours,
and then all of a sudden it's quiet in and
you go to work once a week and it's on
Sunday only, Um, my clothes like are laid out, my socks,

(25:00):
my you know what I'm what I'm wearing is laid
out Saturday night, go to bed early, and you know
we're in there, what five in the morning on on Sundays. Uh,
So that is uh, that's a huge day for me,
meaning it's a day to be around football and be
around uh people that are that are talking football, that
are around the people like you're on field covering games. Uh.

(25:25):
Because it's it's quite a change when you go from
one extreme to the other. And so Sunday is that
like smorgas for all Right, you're there and and time
to go home, and you're like, I don't want to go.
I love I missed this. Yeah. You know. One of
the things I remember, John Lynch and I were on
the same crew for years. I was a sideline reporter.
He was a broadcaster and you know, behind closed doors,

(25:47):
he had indicated like you know, a desire to someday
get back in the NFL, and I was on the crew.
The same weekend he actually spoke with Atlanta, spoke with
San Francisco about the Atlanta I'm sorry about the GM job.
While we were in Atlanta doing a Seattle Atlanta job.
I didn't even know about it. He didn't tell me
about it, and then I found out later one of
the things John said to me was I missed the scoreboard.

(26:09):
You know, I call all these games, but I missed
the scoreboard, and I had this burning desire. Do you
miss the scoreboard? I know it's just been one year,
but do you miss at the end of that Sunday
that there's no winning loss at the end. It's kind
of like Shawnny did a good job. You made a
great point about Teddy Bridgewater, right, go home. Yeah, I
think I totally get that, because you can have a
real good day on Sunday with some of your insighter

(26:29):
predictions or your narratives. Maybe some days not so so good,
but you do drive home and and and you know
you probably get home in time or you fly home
in time to watch a little Sunday night football. Uh man,
It's it's hard to it's hard to replace that drug
of winning though, and that, you know, the the amount

(26:50):
of work that goes in to a game plan with
your players and coaches and as an organization, everyone is
working their tails off. And then to enjoy that in
a locker room celebration. And you know, we we tried
to become the best at what we did, uh winning,
and then we tried to celebrate better than anyone as well,

(27:12):
like you know, with the fancy speaker system, and and
but it's, uh, it's it's it's something. And so I
would describe if I was painting the perfect analogy relative
to me um coaching. Again, It's like there's this NASCAR
race track about two blocks away from where I'm staying

(27:35):
now with the lights on, and I can hear the
cars running around the track. I can smell the gasoline
and and I can even hear the p A announcer.
And so like today, I'll get out and I'll walk
the dogs, and I'll look over there and I think
there's you just know at some point you're going to
go back to that track, but you don't know when
you got I mean, you're great. I love the way
of words you have, and I look at these jobs.

(27:57):
There are going to be several I would ask you,
and you tell me when I'm asking too many questions,
and you could say, Schregor, shut up. We're not trying
to make news having a conversation. What do you value
most when you're looking at these jobs? Is it the quarterback?
Is it the city? Is it the owner. Is it
that when you're putting down your pros and cons? What
what is what is on that list? It's what we
just talked about relative to Zack and Seawan and then

(28:20):
their teams. Uh, and then we talked about it with
our job. And I mean this this sounds cliche, but
it's people. UM. I'll give you an example. When I
interviewed with the Saints, I had already interviewed in Green
Bay and had a really good interview there. The late
Ted Thompson was the general manager at the time. Um,

(28:43):
they're there a ton of good folks in that building.
And I'm from Chicago, so obviously that's fairly close to home.
And they're the story tradition. UM. I taking that interview
and was back and now I was interviewing at the Saints,
waiting to hear from the packers. Now New Orleans was
post Katrina, and I can't explain flying in there for

(29:06):
off when when Holmes have trouble after a huge hurricane,
there's a lot of blue tarps on all the roofs.
So when you landed, you saw thousands of blue roofs
that were just temporarily uh, covering up the holes in
the roofs, the airport was empty. Mickey Loomis picks me up.
I kind of like this guy, Mickey Loomis, Um, we're

(29:27):
gonna have dinner that night. I like him even more. Uh.
And that evening I find out that I didn't get
the packers job. You know. I remember just getting a
voicemail and like ripping my phone into the pillow and
just be like ah and uh. And then the focus
shifted a little bit more towards New Orleans. And despite

(29:50):
all the things that we could have drawn from that
visit which were negative, there were so many the schools
weren't open yet, hospitals. I think as a country, and
I was in Dallas at the time, but I don't
know about you, but as a country, I don't know that.
The I think the concern was, hey, are we going
to have New Orleans again? Like in other words, it

(30:11):
didn't just go away, did it? With that storm? And
so football was kind of like way down the list
on priorities as far as recovery. But hindsight and I
get back to the topic of people, um ownership. Mickey Loomis,
Dennis last to the club president. All these people were

(30:32):
in place that were a part of what we were
going to build. And so I think finding that right triangle,
if you will, of ownership, front office employees, we'll we'll
get the players. You know, I don't say that lightly,
but I think we'll figure out who the quarterback is
going to be and those things we can change easy.

(30:55):
Uh may take a minute, but yeah, I think that's important.
And I also think the fan base is important because
it tells you a little bit of how serious. Like,
you know, I was spoiled in New Orleans. You know
there's a waiting list of thirty thousand people for season
tickets there, and so you knew when you played there
it was a tough place to play. That equates to

(31:15):
that equates to something over a period of time, certain
amount of winds. And so you go into Seattle, you
know it's gonna be a tough place. Kansas City, Minnesota.
These these are passionate fan bases, Green Bay, Pittsburgh. You know,
I'm only hitting a few, but it's it's enjoyable to
go to work there. Maybe I think it would be

(31:37):
more challenging when you see a lot of people dressed
up in empty seats. The quarterback position is interesting, though,
because you had Breeze for all those years, but we didn't.
And I was texting you yesterday we didn't when we
got this, well, we got there, Breeds a free agent.
He to tell the story of the visit. By the way,
the drive you took with Breeze through the ninth ward,
I love. So when we get there, we have all

(31:58):
we we know is we have the second pick of
the draft, so we know that we're more than likely
looking at a quarterback with that pick. And man, we're
ending a lot of time on liner Cutler. Cutler, Yeah, yeah,
those are the Those are the three projected first round,
top of the first round players. Um. And we were

(32:20):
at the combine the day the offensive linemen were working out.
The reason I know that is that's the only day
I sit in the end zone at the combine the
old Indianapolis Stadium, all right, And so I was sitting
in that end zone section and we found out Drew
had been released by the Chargers. Of course, for people
who didn't know that, in the last game of the season,

(32:41):
the last game of the season, last he was playing,
he tore he fully tore his throwing shoulder. UM. And
it was an injury that really no other player in
our league had ever had before fully torn rotator cuff
or shoulder, and so there was no precedent. There was
no like this has been done. This is what the

(33:04):
rehab it was. It was a significant dree and it
was going to cost him a lot of time. Um.
But we got that news, we began like doing our
due diligence, and long story short, he's rehabbing. We're going
to bring him in for a visit. The Dolphins are
going to do the same. Um, and we're kind of

(33:24):
we haven't hit the draft yet, you know, we we
the draft is going to be at the end of April.
So we're between I'm gonna say, we're in March, and
the competition for Drew. It's two teams, it's Miami and
and coach Saban ourselves and Drew happened to be rehabbing

(33:44):
in Birmingham where uh doctor m Andrews. Dr Andrews. Yeah,
he's got a couple of locations, right, and so Andrews
did the surgery. We bring Drew in. We've got this now.
We were when I say we were at that time
a complete business startup, Like there was like eight coaches

(34:06):
at the time on our staff. Um, we were in
temporary offices. Um, we all agreed that we weren't going
to use the K word anymore. So no one could
sake a train anymore. It couldn't be used, right, And
then it was like we were celebrating each a little
marginal victory. We signed Scott Pagitta as a free agent.
We were like food, he chose us, he shows us,

(34:27):
and like, where else did he have to choose? We're like,
that was us, and he us he's coming all right,
and uh. But it was really the beginning of the
start of all of this. And so here comes Drew
and Pete Carmichael, who at that time was my quarterback coach.

(34:47):
I just hired. Pete was at the Chargers as a
quality control coach, and so Pete new Drew actually was
in meetings Withdrew, and so there was like this tie.
It was purely coincidental, obviously, because I had hired Pete
and it was, you know, months later that we were
recruiting Drew. But Pete gave us a good lea aison
if you will, uh, and a go between. You know,

(35:09):
here's some of the offensive philosophies that he knows These
are some of the tags we're putting in the offense
will change how we're calling it based on you know,
if Drew's coming, we'll call we'll call these plays what
he already knows. You know, it's easy for us to adjust.
So we've got the whole power point and everything goes great.
I mean, I'm telling you, we've got the finger food,

(35:30):
the white Brittany, I think it's maybe a day of
shopping in Magazine Street, maybe a spa somewhere. Um, then
I've got a chance. I'm like, I volunteer, like, hey,
I'll show him some property, and not knowing any better.
But this is a complete mistake, right, I've only been
there a month and I'm driving him around. We go
to the north Shore, and if you're not familiar with

(35:50):
New Orleans, it's like it's like you're in New York
and you're saying, hey, we're gonna go over to Jersey.
All Right, it's a different area, but it's an option
to live, right, So yes, forty minutes across the bridge,
forty minutes back, A couple of wrong turns. Next you know,
I'm looking in the review mirror and Brittany is in
the back seat, and you know that Sunday afternoon drive

(36:12):
where you know you're on the way home and she's
dozing off. Drew's kind of looking at me, and he
can see the pilot is concerned. All right, I'm concerned.
You can look at the cockpit. Does not look great
right now. It doesn't look good. It looks definitely on dishoveled.
That would be the dish. And so it's not too
long ago. Two thousand and six. We didn't have like

(36:35):
directions on the phone. We had a BlackBerry, all right,
We had a BlackBerry. I happened to have a flip
at the time. So if I wanted to text somebody,
it was three times to get the letter. C You
with me, all right, So I call, I call, I
call home base Mickey Loomis Mickey, Yeah, he's where you

(36:55):
at hes We've been waiting on you. I said, uh,
kind of lost. Um. So some eventually we get back.
I take him off to dinner and I just remember
thinking I should just drive him right out to Miami.
It's over and uh, he saw things that these eyes
should not see. No, it was not they were not
on it was not on the trip. Itinerary. I was

(37:16):
off the itinerary um and but it was one of
those things though that we look back on and laugh,
um and then slowly, slowly, the collection of the right
people is what brought success. And so I do think
we're uh and and that's not just a loan to
the NFL that that's I think any business with the

(37:38):
collection of the right people who were you know, kind
of motivated and um, forward thinking, unselfish and smart, you
can do a lot. Will you tell that story? And
the writer journalist and me ties it all up and says,
twenty years later, those two guys in the car help
rebuild that city, that that area, that area that you

(38:00):
were so you know, scared to be and driving through
look like it had been rocked. It is probably right
now in a lot better Apen. I'm not saying it's
it's the work of Sean Paigne and Drew Brees, but
you better believe that you guys are in the soil
there at New Orleans for the last twenty years. That
was Listen. I don't know that any of us knew truly,
we all knew we were going to a place to
play football and a place that hadn't had success and

(38:23):
those early stages, you know, the only jump ball. Everyone
that came came with a clear promotion. You know, I
got a head coaching job. You know, we didn't win
any ties. You know, Joe Bitt was the only guy
that had other opportunities of the same value, and he
chose us. The rest of us all came for promotion.

(38:43):
But how Drew ended up there, how Reggie Bush ended
up there. There's so many different stories that tie it
all together, but none of us could have imagined the
significance of that timing. You know, I heard this term
the other night. I thought it was interesting. The OH
six team that first year, we went to the NFC
championship game, and it wasn't our best team. I've said

(39:05):
two things about that team. It was our toughest team.
So if that team got in a bar fight with
any of the other teams, I think Goes six would
have won that fight. And I think it was our
most important team. The O nine team obviously won a
Super Bowl eleven. We had a number of great, great teams,
but the significance of that first year relative to what

(39:28):
that city was going through, and so I think one
of the things that is pretty cool and it's back
to your jumping backwards here to your question about decisions
relative to existing teams. Is sometimes those challenges where everyone
says no way, and you're like, I can totally see

(39:50):
it there, and and it's the adversity that becomes somewhat comical,
and you have those moments where you're building that when
people say it's the journey, it really is. It's not
the end. It's not holding the rise. It's all the
It's like you don't want that to end. It's it's
it's the it's the you know, you're running around trying

(40:14):
to catch the chicken, and you pick it up and
you've caught it, Like what do I do now? You
throw it and you start chasing it again, and and
if you'd like to change, yeah, it's that um And
so I think back to that triangle. You just want
that clear opportunity like the other teams have, and you
don't want to be handicapped or handcuffed to where I mean,

(40:40):
it's impossible, and so there's nothing. You know, we've all
been in a job where you're like you're looking at
something early on and you've got to fight through this job.
It's not the perfect job. But for one reason or another,
the success you're hoping to attain may take a walk.
Quarterback positions, it is great. Do have a preference veteran

(41:01):
to drafting a rookie if you had to, no, no, no, no,
I you want to you know, someone that's passionate about playing.
You know, parcels at a ten ten point checklist for
what you're looking for in this position. Please take me
through this parcels. He wanted a battlefield commander. He didn't

(41:22):
he didn't want the I think the word was no
prima donnas or Hollywood. He just he wanted someone that
would lead. He wanted someone in the weight room with
his team. He wanted someone that was part of his team.
And he wanted someone that you know, your job is
to move the ball and get your team to the
end zone. Um. And so history has told us they

(41:45):
come in a lot of different shapes and sizes that
history has told us they come from all over our
country for the most part. And so, um, you know,
there's a handful of quarterbacks in this year's draft, but
there'll be a pretty I'm sure that not as many,
not as many people like that. All of a sudden,
we start to look at our draft reports now and say, man,

(42:06):
and how did I miss this game? How did I
miss this guy? Right? So that's the great thing about
our game. Um, watching him, watching Cody pick at play,
you know for Pittsburgh is that his first name is
it Kenny? I used to love Cody Pickett, Niners guy
was like Kenny pt Pittsburgh's Kenny. Watching him the other

(42:27):
night delivered for his team was was fantastic. Um, you know,
seeing some of these guys right now in the college stage.
You know, I'm kind of right now in the middle
of this TCU bandwagon. My son's senior there. He works
in the football office as a student assistant. And watching
watching last weekend's game, you know, with with TCU and

(42:50):
Michigan are our good friend Charles Woodson had to wear
a purple tie the other day. Then you got Georgia
in Ohio State. I mean that was pretty amazing those
those two games in the back and forth. I don't
know if I don't like to have been a defensive coach,
but um, so much good quarterback play. Really, when you're
watching it, there's they're being developed quicker I think than before.

(43:14):
They're in offenses that are accelerating their learning curve now,
and so they come a little bit more ready to
our league to play um than they typically have in
the past. And that's a good thing. Team says, hey,
coach Payton, we love you, we'll pay you X amount
of dollars, and we want everything you bring. But we've
got a GM already here that we've been working with

(43:34):
for years. Is that a non starter for you? No? No,
I think um no, because I listen, that exact thing
happened in New Orleans, and so Parcels told me this once.
It was interesting. He said, you know, when a team
makes a change, he goes you study that roster, and
those coaches that end up leaving there. Oftentimes the mistake

(43:59):
of a new coach or a new front office, new
GM is they'll jettison some really good talent that really
wanted to be there, but they just happened to be
at the wrong place at the wrong time. In other words, uh,
you know, some some good talent will leave that building.
And so when I look back on that first year
in New Orleans, man, there were some key players that

(44:23):
were currently already in the building that wanted to be champions,
that wanted to work that wanted to structure discipline. You
had Will Smith, you had Charles Grant, you had jamar Nesbit,
you had John Stinchcomb is going to become a starter.
Yet a practice squad receiver by the name of Lance Moore,
Debree Henderson from l s u UM. I could go

(44:46):
on and on bullocks. We had, Uh. Look, I don't
want to leave players out, Mike Karney. There were a
lot of guys that we're just waiting for the right
and so I think the mistakes sometimes if if you
go in and you just start evaluate what you see
and go by what you see in the same thing

(45:06):
takes place with the within the building. We had scouts
and coaches that became part of it that we're part
of the old staff. And so it's back to your
question about an existing GM. It might be the perfect
combination that's waiting to happen. UM. Certainly you want to
meet and visit with them. I just knew the one
positive and there it was. Really there were a few

(45:30):
and far between. But Mickey made a great first impression.
And you know, he's one of my closest friends to
this day and so but honestly speaking, and he knows
this I kept thinking, Man, I like this guy. He's
got a lot of work ahead of him. I don't
know who he's going to get as a head coach
because I thought I'm going to Green Bay. Yeah. Yeah,
And that's how the world works sometimes, you know, it's like, wait,

(45:52):
I like this guy. Wait, actually it might work out
just fine. Um, you're talking a lot about New Orleans.
They have a coach, Dennis Allen. I know you're not in.
It's not a comfortable conversation, but who knows that might be?
Is there a potential return to New Orld? Think so?
And look, I'm kind of proud of how those guys
are playing and the way Dennis is handled. They had

(46:13):
some tough adversity early in the season, they had lost
some close games. Um, they're going to finish the year
versus Carolina at home. I know that because it's it's
one of my picks this week in our segment. Um.
And I think that Dennis is someone that I remember.
I mean I hired in two thousand and six, so

(46:34):
he was on that first staff. Um. So he came
as an assistant defensive line coach. I think that was
his title, and then eventually became promoted to secondary coach
and then uh past two thousand and ten eleven twelve,
at some point he gets hired to be the defensive
coordinator of the Broncos and then went on to become

(46:55):
the head coach of the then Oakland Raiders. So no
guys like Dennis Dan Campbell, you know how much I'm
pulling for him, Doug Moron at one point. You know,
we've had a number of guys come through our program
be a part of our staff that went on to
become either coordinators or head coaches. And I think Dennis
is one of those guys that's going to do a

(47:17):
really good job. A couple more questions then we'll wrap.
I hate feeling like this is like you on the
hot seat, but this is fun. No, it's all good. Hey,
when you're done, all right, what do I have here?
Cards against Humanity? What hidden gems? Bundle? Okay, bring it
this weekend play with I think you'd be pretty good
at trivia. I'll bet you'd be real good. Guys. Do

(47:38):
it right now? Do you have it? It's wrapped Christmas gift,
A little little stocking stuff. That's good. So Tom Brady
is here your quarterback wherever you go. How's that for
a nice one? Man? I'll tell you what, um that No,
I think that there are a number of things that

(47:59):
play into Tom's decision. When I can't speak for Tom
what I haven't talked to Tom. Uh. I'm certainly a
big fan. It was good to see them play well
this past week. And when I say it was good
to see them, I'm actually pulling for New Orleans and
against that division. It's just my nature. Um, But he
and Mike Evans hooked up for you know, some big

(48:21):
plays people forget. And I'm not sidestepping this question real quick.
You're always as an evaluator trying to see how much
of the decline has been Tom, or how much has
it been the three offensive lineman that we're injured, a
starting center. You know, a lot of different faces in
the offensive line. Who's blocking the d gap? The tight

(48:42):
ends gone, Gronkowski. All I hear about Gronk is his
red zone is catches. But there's a lot of there's
a lot of ditch digg and he did all right
when it came to their run game. And and so
that's gone. There's one receiver less, another receiver coming off
an injury. So that cast. And this is nothing. This

(49:03):
is just factual, al right. So I'm not talking about
Todd Byron, Tom Brady or anyone else. That cast changed
on the Buccaneers this year on offense. Um, just because
there were some injuries and a number of reasons. And
so when that cast change changes like that, the quarterback

(49:25):
position is affected, the clock in his head is quicker,
He's having to throw the ball a little bit quicker.
Last week, another tick, another one count, and all of
a sudden, some balls down the field. So I don't
know that I've seen a drop off when I watched
his team play. Um, I've seen a little bit of
a drop off in their offense, but but not necessarily

(49:48):
with Tom and but certainly to the mind's eye, we
can look at it and say he didn't look the same. Well, no, kid,
he didn't look the same. And none of us are
if if that type of thing changes. As part of
our eleven we've known each other for years. Um. We
both happened to be from the same area. And Kelly Forna,
now I was only there for seven years. That's where

(50:09):
he grew up, San Mateo, California. He went to high
school where my brother went to high school. And it
wasn't until really thirty years later, twenty five years later
that this agent by the name of Don Yee who
represents me and who has Tom, introduced us. We had
a joint practice when I was with the Giants. Tom's

(50:31):
rookie year with the Patriots, UM, Tom was coached by
the late Dick Raybind Dick was a fantastic coach for
us at the Giants, who then went to the Patriots
to coach quarterbacks and and had a lot to do
with getting Tom there as a draft pick. And anyway,
Tom was a backup. I've got some pictures I'll show

(50:51):
you where you know here to like really green when
I say green coach and a green player. UM, and
so over the years we've always stayed in touch, never
worked together, and I think there's too many, too many
variables in that equation. If we work together, shregs. I'm
going to predict there's a good chance if we work together,

(51:12):
it'll be with Fox. Really we didn't. Brady signed a
deal with Fox. Yes, but I'm I'm thinking, here comes
Sean Payton and it's traveling. You know, he's traveling rodeo
of of people that are coming with him, And it's
a defensive question. Can you imagine? And here's and here's
the guy in the fourth spot, Tom Brady. You're talking,
he's gonna breakdown, He's gonna breakdown. Saints Panther still with us.

(51:35):
You're gonna have You're gonna have him on a podcast
this time next year, and you're gonna be introducing him.
Is hey one of the guys I see on weekends?
You know? And and uh yeah, I think um and
and look, I can't honestly who can blame him with
the contract that that that was reported relative to to
that deal, I know, I know it was nice. Uh

(51:56):
all right, this is awesome. My last one, I guess
would be if you're a betting man, Um, is your
next month going to be filmed filled with flying to
local to local all and having dinner with billionaire owners?
Or is this next month going to be you know what,
they can come to me and or they don't have
to come to me? Like, how do you think this
is going to play out? Oh? I honestly, I'm the

(52:18):
worst at that. I here's what I know. I'm always
like eight days in advance. I know we're in the
office Sunday. Uh, and and we may have a Saturday dinner,
but we're in the office Sunday all day. I know Monday,
TCU plays, um right here at Sofi Stadium. TCU is
playing Georgia. Uh. Two great coaches and football programs, and

(52:40):
we're excited to see that game. I know that I
might be golfing on Wednesday next week. So the point is, though,
like I'm the worst that like, oh, I think they're
I do think after this weekend one of the tough
things about our business and I hate that we we
even use this phrase is black Monday. You don't have

(53:01):
to you know, have they even say we don't even
do it anymore on NFL network. We're like, let's just
not call it that anymore. It's it's just, you know,
end of the season changes are being made and uh.
And it's tough because if it's if it's a head
coach that's going through that, that probably means there's seventeen
assistant coaches that are that are going through the same thing.

(53:22):
So um, yeah, it's always a tough part of the year. Um.
But I do think this, the next time we do
this podcast, I think we'll have a little bit more clarity.
I really enjoy what I'm doing right now, and I
have a hard time with fantasy football right now, like
I don't I don't keep my roster up to date.
I do all these things that you're not supposed to do,

(53:43):
and I think I'm in the same way when it
would come to wagering odds. But I do think, um, currently,
the job I have at Fox, I enjoy, and there's
there's a good chance that that I'm I'm doing that
again this upcoming year. Wow. You know it's funny because
I'm looking at our playoff schedule and Fox has two
wild card rounds, two divisional rounds, an NFC Championship game,

(54:04):
and then we host the Super Bowl Fox. So in
my head, I was talking to my wife, Erica, who
you got to know, and I'm like, gosh, I love
coach so much and I want him to get the
best job that he can in head coaching. But I'm
also selfishly like, we got a cool month ahead, but
we're gonna be doing a lot of football talk together
and I don't wanted to leave. I wanted to be
there so Peter, for our audience, I want to explain

(54:26):
to them. Last night um, just random randomly, Trags will
send me something like, hey, I'm just looking here. Drew
Brees set the all time UH touchdown pass mark or
yardage mark. It was one of these three. It was
a Chris Ivory throw, it was a Jimmy Graham throw,
or Darren Sproles. And right away, I'm like Darren Sproles,

(54:46):
I knew, I knew the play. I had the ball,
all right. You know, here's what it is. The homes
is you can finish it about He's four thirty away
from breaking the record which Manning broke from Breeze. But
I'm looking at the I'm a sick pupp And if
you listen to this podcast, you know I have a lot,
a lot of interest in like deep football's stuff that
maybe not everyone does. Coach Payton and I share that

(55:09):
deep love, my kindred spirit. So I said, Trivia, who
caught the past when Breeze broke Dan Marino's twenty seven
year record of passing yards in a season, And I said,
was it Chris Ivory? Was it Marcus Coulson, was it
Darren Sprowls or was it I think? I said Robert Meacham,
and coach take it away yeah, so right away, as

(55:30):
soon as he gave me the options, I saw one
of them. You know, the right away I knew was Sprowls.
I put down B right away, be he got it
like right when he sent it. And then and then
I wrote following, I said, I have the ball and
he just went up. So that being said, when when
you do these podcasts, I don't know the people at
home do this, but I do. I propped the computer

(55:53):
on something. I'm gonna give you three choices. This laptop,
Peter is propped on one of three choices. A A
Christmas set of Riddell four four wine glasses. You know,
a four pack of Riddell um looks like yeah, it
looks like a Cabernet wine glasses. Or it's propped on

(56:17):
um a Friedo Lay five pack of Cheeto's Son Chips
to Rito's Chilian Cheese Friedo's. Or it's propped on two
boxes of cereal, one being apple Jack's and the other
box being Raisin Brand. So a the ridel wineglass gift set,

(56:38):
be the Friedo Lay five pack of chips, or see
all right, see the unhealthy cereal boxes of apple Jack's.
And uh would I say the second one, I'm looking
at it right here, Apple Jack's and um Raisin Brandon.
I'm gonna go with b. I'm gonna say we've got

(57:00):
the potato chip variety pack that you bought while walking
through a bodega in Manhattan Beach. You're like, oh, let's
pick it up with me? Did we might not? You
know what? Those don't go old. I'm gonna say we've
got some some some some friedo lay Friedo's that were
resting this laptop. Yes, I got it right, I got

(57:20):
it right right from the Sam's Club. It looks like, yes,
we got that. That is so delicious. Oh I want
it all right now to sun Chips. That's the healthy option.
Those don't go eating. I can't No one's eating sonships.
I can't believe you got be I'm thinking and I

(57:41):
had to like put my eyes down there like I
was reading each one, and I struggled with that's good.
Uh do you remember so real quick? You guys love this.
You know, here's this Hall of Fame coach and there's
this me Mr hot Shot on tv UM he's about
to go on the Manning Cast and I and I'm like, oh, yeah,
what's good and coach just sends me a text. It's

(58:02):
a picture of his jersey Mike. Subby's about to eat.
So sure enough, sure enough. A couple of weeks later,
I'm stuck in l a X airport. I take a
self I got my club sell number nine. Baby, I'm
in let's go. Just showing my face with jersey Mike.
That's the good stuff, no question, no question. It's uh yeah,
it's is honestly. So, I have this eight Sleep app

(58:23):
that grades my sleep and it's simple. It's just a
mattress cover. Um and look, it can chill, it can warm,
and it reads your heart rate all those things. How
long you slept? Four? And I said to my wife
the other day, I said, hey, my eight Sleep. Just
asked me if I've changed professions. She's like, what are
you talking about? It says, well, you're you're averaging eight

(58:45):
and a half hours per per night sleep compared to
your four and a half. And we just started laughing. Yeah.
So the first thing I do when I get up
is like, what's my grade? What I get? I got
a ninety two this morning? I had eight hours and
four minutes. Um slept well, and uh, there's quite a
bit of rain here. But um no, I yeah, we're

(59:06):
having we're having fun, and we're talking about a lot
of things. Uh. And I listen, I say this, I
appreciate our friendship and and it's easier uh after this week.
You just want to make sure those people, if if
we all as human beings are just a little kinder,
a little closer, a little smarter, hug a little bit more.

(59:29):
To see what went on to start our week, and
to watch our country's response, our league's response, are our
peers responses. It just gives you a good feeling relative
to the spirit. And uh. So we're pulling for to
Mar's health and recovery. Uh and each day it sounds
like it's getting better, and we continue to uh. But

(59:51):
we all want to see that picture where he just
looks at that balance and and and it's almost like
a movie, right you just like you know those movies
where they talk about you've been asleep for this long
and it's it's hopefully we get that that happy we're
all praying. Hey, that's a perfect way to end this, coach.
We thought maybe it's be a fifteen twenty minute chat

(01:00:12):
you at the full hour. I love you, man, I
will see you this weekend. We'll have some Radel wine. Um,
we'll laugh a bunch, and then if you're the coach,
bring the son chips. And if you're the coach of
the Houston Texans in a week we'll say, yeah, well
we didn't know that then, but now we know it now.
I'm just kidding. Have an amazing rest of your week.

(01:00:33):
And then uh, we'll talk to some football this weekend.
You're the best. You're the best too. We see Peter.
I love that guy. Uh, Sean Payton is It was awesome.
I didn't know him like this. I think he said
that we just became friends this year. Like he was
always a coach and I would do sidelines and I'd
go in there and he was always very engaging. But
Sean always had his guys in the media, and one
of them was Jake Glazer at Fox. And I was

(01:00:53):
always like, you know what I have my guys. Glazers
got his, chefter has got his. It's like and I
never really made the effort, and I never really thought
Sean I wanted to make the effort with me, And
then sure enough we worked together Fox and A because
of this guy, A friend for life. UM a leader,
an incredibly charismatic guy. He's funny as hell, and I

(01:01:14):
think a lot of the things he said we're poignant.
I also think, Um, after that full hour, I don't
I can't take away if if he wants to coach
or not, if he's going to be coaching or not.
And maybe that's the beauty of it. He plays his cards,
uh pretty much what feels like wide open. And yet
I come away from that interview saying, if I had
to put money on whether he's back or not, I'd
say please pass. I don't know. I don't know. Um,

(01:01:35):
I want to say back, I mean back at Fox.
We've been lucky to have him. I started this podcast
about an hour ago talking about Damor Hamblin and how
we're gonna transition to talk about football. We ended it
with big laughs and uh, Sean Payton and I talking
about son chips and whether they're a chip worth eating
and Jersey Mike's and how we've been sleeping a little
better since his coaching days are ending. I love you

(01:01:57):
guys for listening. I hope this brought you some joy.
And what was a very weird week for an NFL
fan and Hopefully we have some better news on the
moor Hamlin when this thing post and you start listen
to it, Enjoy the weekend. It's week eighteen. We'll check
in next week, hopefully with some different terms. Alright, guys.
The Season with Peter Schraeger is a production of the
NFL and partnership with I heart Radio. For more podcasts

(01:02:19):
from my Heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app,
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